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Sweden records 23 per cent growth in Indian visitors in a year

Direct flights, increased trade between the two nations and a mutual governmental interest has resulted in a 23 per cent growth in the number of visitors from India to Sweden. The news was revealed by Visit Sweden and the Consul General of Sweden in Mumbai at a seminar conducted by the Scandinavian Tourism board in Mumbai recently. The number of visa applications from India for Sweden has doubled from 2014 to 2018.

Michael Persson Gripkow of Visit Sweden said: “We have noticed the ‘bleisure’ travel trend – a combination of business and leisure travel. In addition, according to Statistics Sweden, there are 17,000 Indian passport holders residing in Sweden today. This, along with other factors, has led to an increase in tourism from India.”

More than a 190 Swedish companies are registered in India including Ericsson, Volvo, H&M, Scania, DeLaval, Tetra Pak and the latest entrant being the much-awaited, global home furnishings giant IKEA. In addition, several small and medium enterprises and Swedish start-ups are nurturing India plans. This growing bridge between India and Sweden has impacted tourism positively.

Ruth Dolla, project manager India for Visit Sweden, added: “We look forward to further growth this year and in 2019. We continue to engage the travel trade community as well as the consumer and raise awareness about Sweden as a tourist destination. The direct flight from Delhi to Stockholm with Air India completed one year since its first flight in August 2017 and continues to bring incoming traffic from India to Sweden.”